colonoscopy

19 Stories

Blood Test for This Cancer Shows Promise for Early Detection

Guardant Health's Shield test picked up 83% of cancer cases, offering hope for simpler screenings

(Newser) - A new, simpler way to screen for colon cancer could soon become the routine. Guardant Health has produced a blood test that could be administered at a regular doctor's visit to detect the third most-diagnosed cancer in adults in the US—and in a new study, the Shield test...

Colonoscopies Just Got Kicked Off Their 'Pedestal'
Colonoscopies Just Got
Kicked Off Their 'Pedestal'
NEW STUDY

Colonoscopies Just Got Kicked Off Their 'Pedestal'

Screening tool for colon cancer not as effective as once thought, though docs stress it's still important

(Newser) - No one ever looks forward to a colonoscopy, but it's long been framed as a crucial tool in the fight against colon cancer. As Stat News notes, "gastroenterologists put colonoscopies on a pedestal" for decades. Now, a new 10-year study out of Europe puts somewhat of a damper...

Colonoscopy Might've Saved Ryan Reynolds
Colonoscopy Might've
Saved Ryan Reynolds
VIDEO

Colonoscopy Might've Saved Ryan Reynolds

Actor learned 'extremely subtle polyp' in colon may have developed into cancer

(Newser) - Ryan Reynolds lost a bet and as a result had to publicly broadcast his first colonoscopy. "But it still paid off," according to the actor. Indeed. The procedure, in which a camera is inserted into the rectum to look for colon polyps, was potentially life-saving. In a video...

An Update on Biden's Health After Colonoscopy

Possible 'precancerous lesion' was removed, but the president remains 'fit for duty,' per physician

(Newser) - A clump of cells removed from President Biden's colon during his routine colonoscopy at Walter Reed Medical Center last week was a "benign, slow-growing, but thought to be potentially precancerous lesion," according to a memo from his physician. Dr. Kevin O'Connor described the polyp—a clump...

Harris Is First Woman to Gain Presidential Power, Briefly

President Biden will be under anesthesia for routine colonoscopy Friday

(Newser) - Vice President Kamala Harris is making history again: She'll become the first woman to hold presidential power while President Biden undergoes a routine procedure on Friday. Biden will temporarily transfer power to Harris while he is under anesthesia for a routine colonoscopy, according to White House press secretary Jen...

New Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines Are Here

Panel recommends routine screenings start at 45, not 50

(Newser) - Just turned 45 and figured you had another half a decade before your routine colonoscopies start? Well, maybe not. The US Preventive Services Task Force, an influential panel, now recommends routine screening for colorectal cancer should start at 45, not 50, NPR reports. Colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of...

American Cancer Society Says You Should Do This at 45

It moves guideline for colon cancer screening earlier, from age 50

(Newser) - Getting screened for colon cancer is no longer a rite-of-passage for a 50-year-old, at least according to the American Cancer Society. In updated guidelines released Wednesday, it inched the recommended age to 45. NPR explains that doesn't mean getting a colonoscopy. The new recommendations detail six screening options, which...

Coming to Colon Cancer Screening: Simple Home Test

Cologuard inspires mixed reactions, offers non-invasive option

(Newser) - Starting tomorrow, millions of people who have avoided colon cancer screening can get a new home test that's noninvasive and doesn't require the icky preparation most other methods do. Cologuard, developed at the Mayo Clinic, is the first to look for cancer-related DNA in stool. But deciding whether...

Screenings Slash Colon Cancer Rate 30% in a Decade

But researchers see more work ahead

(Newser) - The fight against colon cancer through screening is "one of the great public health success stories of the decade," says a top figure at the American Cancer Society: In people over 50, colon cancer rates have dropped by 30% over the past decade, researchers say. That's mostly...

VA Hospital Delays Are Killing Veterans

Report obtained by CNN shows at least 19 dead due to lengthy waits

(Newser) - Some pretty grim news courtesy of a Veterans Affairs internal report on patients diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and 2011 that CNN obtained: Delays at VA hospitals are killing veterans. At least 19 have died because of delays in medical screenings; they're part of a group of 82 vets...

Why Americans Pay More for Colonoscopies

Because America charges more, and has made the procedure more profitable

(Newser) - Americans spend more on health care than any other country. A US hip replacement costs four times as much as one in Switzerland. A C-section costs three times as much as New Zealand. And a hospital stay costs triple that of other developed nations—though it doesn't typically last...

Study: Colonoscopy Cuts Cancer Deaths

Invasive test definitely a life-saver, researchers say

(Newser) - To say colonoscopies are unpopular would be an understatement, but the procedure definitely saves lives, a new study finds. The research, which confirms what doctors have long believed, found that the death rate from colon cancer was cut by 53% among people who had the test and had precancerous growths...

Elderly Americans Getting Too Many Colonoscopies

Study says unnecessary colon screening are health risk, drain on Medicare

(Newser) - Americans are getting repeat colon cancer tests they don't need and Medicare is paying for it, a new study reveals. The screening is only necessary once every 10 years, but almost half of the Medicare patients in the study had a colonoscopy less than seven years after getting normal...

Easy DNA Tests Raise Hopes on Colon Cancer

They're less invasive than colonoscopies

(Newser) - Doctors believe two new DNA-based tests could sharply reduce colon cancer, and spare millions of people from undergoing colonoscopies. One test, developed by Exact Sciences in Wisconsin, examines stool samples for the presence of four altered genes that are indicative of the cancer. Another group, from Germany, tests blood samples...

Study Backs Virtual Colonoscopy

Computer scan as effective as invasive procedure

(Newser) - A new study has found a virtual colonoscopy to be almost as effective as a conventional invasive procedure in detecting colon cancer, USA Today reports. Virtual colonoscopies, using scans and computer imaging, discovered 90% of the cancers located by regular colonoscopies, in which a scope is physically passed through the...

Colonoscopies Often Miss Dangerous Lesions: Study

Flat irregularities more dangerous than polyps

(Newser) - Doctors searching for polyps during a colonoscopy need to focus more on flat or depressed lesions, the New York Times reports, which are more likely to grow into cancer—and more common in the US than previously thought, a study finds. Polyps, which protrude from intestinal lining, are easier to...

Good for the President, Not for the People?

Bush receives, dismisses state-run health care

(Newser) - Even as Bush knocks “government-run health care,” San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Lazarus points out, he receives a generous helping of it: The president's colonoscopy last week was of course performed by first-rate taxpayer-funded professionals at a taxpayer-funded facility.

President's Colon Polyps Benign: Docs

Next cancer screening moved up, scheduled for 3 years from now

(Newser) - The five polyps removed from President Bush during his Saturday colonoscopy were benign, the AP reports. Tony Snow said today that Bush's doctors had not expected to find any malignant growths, and he will undergo a colonoscopy again in 2010 rather than waiting the usual 5 years because of his...

Bush Returns to Oval Office After Surgery

Cheney era over after docs remove polyps from president

(Newser) - George Bush resumed his duties as president today, two hours after voluntarily handing them over to VP Cheney while he underwent a colonoscopy. Bush is eager to get back to work, a White House spokesman said; Cheney spent his moment in the sun reading at home, and "nothing occurred...

19 Stories